Cisco and Westcon Group North America have agreed to pay $48 million to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act through misrepresentations made to the General Services Administration (GSA) and other federal agencies.
Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, said that “when contractors provide incomplete and untruthful information to the government, we will take action to restore the integrity of the procurement process and protect taxpayer dollars.”
The claims stated that Cisco and Westcom provided fraudulent information to GSA contract officers, resulting in improper pricing of Cisco products. As Brian D. Miller, GSA Inspector General stated, “overcharging the government results in waste of taxpayer dollars.”